On the invitation of the Evangelical Church in Germany(EKD), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and the Lutheran World Federation, a delegation of the Chinese Christian Council (CCC) headed by President Rev. Gao Feng joined the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation held in Europe.
On June 10, 2017, the delegation arrived in Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany, where the church in Germany held an exhibition of the Reformation, said Fujian Theological Seminary. In the city hall of Wittenberg, Rev. Lv Dezhi, vice-president of the CCC, gave a welcome speech in the opening ceremony of "China's Day". He declared that the Chinese church takes an active part in public affairs of the ecumenical church. For example it attended the executive committee meeting of World Council of Churches (WCC) convened in Nanjing and Shanghai last November and the National CCC/TSPM will hold "Symposium on Sinicization of Christianity in Remembrance of the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation" this October.
Dr. Liu Ruomin from the University of Hamburg expounded on the verses of Matthew with a preaching style of the Chinese church, exhorting the audiences to imitate Jesus' work model by the Sea of Galilee and serve their neighbors. Dr. Yue Qinghua, vice-chairman of the TSPM, introduced the Chinese church and stated that the church pushes Sinicization of Christianity to transform Christianity in China into Chinese Christianity. Qiu Zhonghui, general secretary of the Amity Foundation, and Rev. Lv were interviewed.
A round-table meeting was conducted among the delegation, the German church, and the German send mission. The European partners of the Amity Foundation from Norway and the United Kingdom were invited to discuss immigration and refugee issues caused by globalization. The participants showed great concern about the theological education and theological research capability of the Chinese church.
Christina, head of the Asia Pacific Region of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland suggested that the CCC&TSPM publish theological education achievements of the Chinese church and graduation theses written by theological students.
In addition, the delegation also visited churches in Finland and Switzerland to discuss the situation and development of the churches in China and in Europe.
Translated by Karen Luo
